The Breath of Spring -- Recycled paper baskets

Have you felt the Breath of Spring enter your home today like the smell of laundry fresh from the line or a beautiful breeze hinted with the scent of lilac?

The breath of Spring is in the air,
The Daffodils a bloom,
With Crimson tulips bright and fair
It's Springtime's sweet perfume.

The rolling fields of verdant green,
Full rich with promise lie
Caressed by sunlight's golden sheen
Beneath a sapphire sky.

The fairy wand upon the trees
has opened to the sun
The wee brown buds, kissed by the breeze,
A miracle each one.

The little birds that joyfully sing
Their hymn until the dawn
Are bidding welcome to the spring...
And lo, the winters gone.

By Mary M. Forman


Today we made recycled paper baskets to decorate our home for Spring. The kids love filling them with many things. Here is a simple tutorial on how to make them. Enjoy!

Step 1: Make sure you have a square piece of paper. Fold your paper in half like this. Then open it up and fold it in half the other way.

Step 2: Open up your paper and fold all the corners so they meet at the center point. Unfold the paper.

Step 3:

 Fold each corner to the crease lines made by the folds in step 2. Then unfold the paper.

Step 4: One by one, fold the corners so they meet the crease lines on the opposite side of the square like so. Unfold the paper.

Step 5: Your paper should look the following pictures with all squares on it.

Step 6: Now cut along the thick lines , two squares in like the following pictures.

Step 7: Fold the sides down , the two opposite sides of the ones cut and a box will form. Then fold over the two cut sides into the middle of the box.  Tape or glue to secure your box. You can cut a strip of paper for a handle if you wish....

Here are some pictures of our boxes we made today:

 What are some ways you decorate your home for Spring?  Do you have any favorite tutorials you use ?

Hop into Easter and Spring with these beautiful Eggshell Tulips

I have seen so many lovely Easter and Spring crafts online recently. That I was inspired to make some of my own to share with you all. You can make this craft work well for any age group.

Here are the following items you will need to create these lovely little flowers:

Pipe cleaners (Depending on how many flowers you want to make)
Green paper
yellow or orange paper
Blown eggs/hard boiled eggs cracked in half
Green wool roving
food coloring

 So first you need to dye your eggs. We choose a beautiful golden yellow. If you are working with young children it is best to make hard boiled eggs and dye the eggs first then crack them in half yourself after.

After the eggs have dried a bit you are all ready to begin.If you started with hard boiled eggs this point you need to take a nail and poke a whole into the bottom of the egg .  Take your yellow or orange paper and cut it with a fringe like your making grass. Now you'll have everything all set. You can lay out your items like I have for easy assembly.

 Next you will take a small amount of your green roving and wrap it around your pipe cleaner like so....

Then gently rub it between your hands to secure all roving together. You can do this a few times until it is nice and tight.

 Like this picture below....

Then take your yellow or orange paper and roll it up like the following pictures....

Then start to fan it out a bit ...

You should have something similar to this...you can secure it with tape...

Now take your eggshell half and pick up your pipe cleaner and poke it up through the bottom then bend it over so it doesn't fall out.

Get your glue gun and squirt some glue into the egg ( you can use elmers glue if working with younger children or even tacky glue)

and add your yellow or orange piece to the center like this...

Glue on your leave to the stem....

And that is it!! You can place your flowers into a vase or flower pot . They make a perfect homemade gift for Easter,Mother's Day,Grandparents,Aunts or make a bouquet to give to a friend.

Ours are growing out of this flower pot :)

HOPPY SPRING !!!

Do you have any special crafts you make for Spring or Easter?